Chapter 7 - The Custody HearingThe emergency custody hearing took place six days later.
Jocelyn and Freya did not sit in the courtroom.
Claire brought them to a child-friendly waiting room with puzzles, books, and a television that neither girl watched.
“What happens if Dad loses?” Freya asked.
Claire sat across from them.
“The judge could place you somewhere else temporarily.”
“With Damon?”
“No.”
That answer was immediate.
Freya relaxed slightly.
“With who?”
Claire hesitated.
“We’re trying to identify relatives.”
Jocelyn’s heart jumped.
“Miriam?”
Claire looked at her.
“How do you know Miriam?”
Jocelyn froze.
She had not meant to say it.
“Cards.”
“What cards?”
“Harrison had birthday cards from her.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Did you ever receive them?”
“No.”
“Did Damon?”
“I think he hid them.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“We’ve contacted Miriam Vale.”
Jocelyn stopped breathing.
“You found her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Portland.”
“Is she coming?”
“She’s trying.”
Jocelyn felt something she had not allowed herself to feel in months.
Hope.
Then fear crushed it.
“Does Dad know?”
“Not from me.”
“He has her address.”
Claire’s face changed.
“How?”
“I saw it.”
“Where?”
“His study.”
Claire immediately stood.
“I need to make a call.”
Inside the courtroom, Harrison’s attorney argued that he was the girls’ biological father, that Damon’s abuse was documented, and that removing them again would create more trauma.
Claire testified about the locked rooms.
The clothing control.
The questions about Natalie’s key.
The threat that honesty might cause sibling separation.
Harrison’s attorney objected to the word threat.
The judge overruled.
Then Detective Malcolm Price testified.
His investigation had uncovered Briar Property Partners.
The company had been founded ten years earlier by Harrison Reed, Damon Cross, and Natalie Reed.
Financial records showed more than $1.8 million had moved through questionable vendor accounts over seven years.
Both Harrison and Damon had signing authority.
The judge looked toward Harrison.
“This is becoming less about parenting and more about why two adult men appear to be searching for property left by a deceased woman.”
Harrison remained composed.
“My ex-wife became paranoid during her illness.”
Malcolm looked at him.
“Natalie died from metastatic breast cancer.”
“Yes.”
“Are you suggesting her financial records were unreliable because she was sick?”
“I’m saying she was under enormous stress.”
Malcolm opened a folder.
“We have bank transfers bearing your authorization.”
Harrison’s attorney stood.
“This is not a financial-crimes hearing.”
The judge agreed.
But the damage was done.
Then Damon’s attorney requested permission for Damon to testify remotely.
Harrison’s face changed.
Damon appeared on a screen from his lawyer’s office.
“You want to know why Harrison came back?” Damon said.
His attorney warned him to answer only the question.
Damon ignored him.
“He came back because Natalie’s evidence can put him in prison.”
Harrison stood.
“You lying—”
“Sit down,” the judge ordered.
Damon smiled.
There was no pleasure in it.
Only hatred.
The two men looked at each other.
For Jocelyn and Freya, the judge later learned, both had pretended they were enemies from different chapters of Natalie’s life.
Now the courtroom saw the truth.
Their lives had been tangled for years.
Damon continued.
“Harrison found out Natalie created a safe-deposit arrangement before she died.”
“Did you know?” Malcolm asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you search for it?”
Damon hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did you force two children to earn money for you?”
His face tightened.
“That has nothing to do with—”
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
Harrison laughed bitterly.
Damon glared at him.
“At least I never locked them in rooms to force their memories.”
The judge looked sick of both men.
After three hours, she ruled.
Harrison’s emergency custody would not continue unchanged.
The girls would be removed temporarily and placed together in licensed kinship-capable foster care while Miriam Vale completed an expedited home-study process.
Harrison’s contact would be supervised.
Damon’s no-contact order remained.
When Claire told the girls, Freya burst into tears.
“Foster care?”
“Together,” Claire said.
“You promised?”
“I’m telling you the judge ordered you to remain together unless there is a safety emergency.”
Jocelyn looked at Freya.
“Together.”
Freya nodded.
Then Claire added:
“Miriam lands tonight.”
Jocelyn felt dizzy.
Their aunt was real.
Not a card.
Not a name in a note.
Real.
Harrison returned home from court alone.
He entered the laundry room.
The servant-style dress lay beneath several towels.
He picked it up.
Something felt heavy.
He ripped the lining.
Natalie’s notebook fell onto the floor.
Harrison stared.
He opened it.
Found the page.
Blue key — box 214.
His face changed.
Then he saw the next line.
Second key with M. Never keep both together.
Harrison closed the notebook.
For the first time since the girls had arrived, he smiled without pretending kindness.
He knew exactly where he had to go.
Portland.
But Jocelyn had made one mistake.
May you like
She believed the notebook was the only copy.
Natalie had always been more careful than that.
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